Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie address ‘queerbaiting’ claims

Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams has said he won’t stop physically expressing love for his co-star Connor Storrie, as the pair addressed accusations of “gay baiting”.

The actors have drawn worldwide attention thanks to their extremely steamy roles as closeted ice hockey rivals Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov in gay sports drama series Heated Rivalry.

The new series, which is adapted from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel series, follows Shane and Ilya as they become secret lovers as their hockey careers ascend. In the most recent episode, episode four, the series delighted fans by showing the pair getting closer than ever. 

Yet alongside interest in the show and its characters, Williams and Storrie have also garnered a huge amount of attention, resulting in speculation about their own sexualities. Asked about their sexual orientation in a recent interview alongside Heated Rivalry director Jacob Tierney, Tierney said there wasn’t “any reason” for the pair to have to speak about their own private identities.

In some corners of the internet though, the pair’s decision not to speak about their sexualities – plus their physically affectionate friendship, and the fact that they have matching tattoos – has led to accusations of so-called ‘gay baiting’, also known as ‘queerbaiting’.

During a recent interview with Deadline, Williams acknowledged that speculation over the actors’ sexuality came with “the nature of celebrity”, but said that he had to “let go” of people making assumptions about his relationship with Storrie.

“I think there’s never a question for me, when I would dream of becoming in the public eye, that I would want just a level of privacy,” he said when questioned about the accusations of “gay baiting”.

“But of course, I agree. I want queer people telling queer stories, but also, there’s the element of Connor and I – we’re best friends, and we love expressing that physically. You see people who infer or assume, and you kind of have to let that go.”

The Canadian actor said that he “never” wants to “stop expressing the love I have for Connor physically”.

“I’m never really going to, and I think multiple things can be true at once. We want queer people telling queer stories. There’s an element of, also you can’t ask that in an audition room.”

Williams added that he agreed with Tierney, who had said that whether the actors were appropriate to be cast in an LGBTQ+ show could only be judged on how “enthusiastic” they were about the story, rather than their own sexualities.

“I really thought I was gonna get nothing for this, and I just loved the story so much, and I want to be a part of that. And Connor as well, I’m sure feels the same. So, I think that’s the only thing you can gauge,” he said.

Storrie added that he needed to “have a little bit of separation from the character in the show” due to its mammoth overnight success. 

“All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story. Who I date, who I sleep with, who this, that, whatever, I’m gonna keep that to myself,” he said.

In recent years, the terms ‘gay baiting’ and ‘queerbaiting’ have become widely used to criticise stars who play LGBTQ+ roles or cater to LGBTQ+ audiences, but do not publicly share their own sexual identities. Celebrities including Harry Styles, Bad Bunny, Yungblud, Kit Connor and Rita Ora have previously been accused of ‘queerbaiting’, with both Connor and Ora being forced to come out as queer as a result.

However, queerbaiting is only accurately applicable to fictional characters; it relates to a marketing technique by storytellers who drop hints at a character being LGBTQ+ to draw in LGBTQ+ audiences, while refusing to confirm said character’s orientation or gender identity.

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